Pages To View:

Contact Us:

Share BDS Events

Why Boycott?

The state of Israel was built on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners. A majority of Palestinians are refugees, most of whom are stateless.

Since 1948, hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel's colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal, and called for effective remedies.

People of conscience in the world have historically fought the injustice of apartheid through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions. As in the struggle of South Africans against apartheid, we in the Hudson Valley support the Palestinians in their fight for justice.

Possible talking points:
1. Local resident and former Vassar College administrator, Fred Nagel, attended the presentation and refutes the WSJ charges.

2. Charges based on unsubstantiated claims of anti Semitism are presented as the truth but without a recording or transcript of the presentation.

3. Dr. Puar was brought to Vassar by the Jewish Studies as well as several other department. It was supported by Vassar Jewish Voice for Peace on campus.

4. Authors of the WSJ article both work for Academic Engagement Network. From Haaretz: "NEW YORK – Enlisting faculty members at American colleges and universities as allies in the fraught battle against the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is the main objective of a new organization that is being launched on Wednesday." In effect, the authors are being paid to shut down debate on college campuses.

5. The Academic Engagement Network has received tens of millions from from Sheldon Adelson, billionaire ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

6. The WSJ has become a typical Rupert Murdock publication, with writers being paid to distribute pro Israel propaganda, and articles full of rightwing, unsubstantiated charges.

7. A world class college like Vassar cannot afford being intimidated by these tactics.

Monday, February 15, 2016

No Open House on Stolen Land!

While RE/MAX International is holding its annual convention in Las Vegas, its Israeli franchise, RE/MAX Israel, is continuing to sell homes in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. RE/MAX’s profiteering and complicity have drawn condemnation from human rights activists around the world. A recent report from Human Rights Watch entitled “Occupation, Inc.”: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights” directly indicting RE/MAX LLC, states that:

By advertising, selling and renting homes in settlements, both the Israeli franchise of RE/MAX and RE/MAX LLC, the owner of the global franchise network, facilitate and benefit from the transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied territory and the associated human rights abuses, contravening their rights responsibilities.